Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 98

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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98
“No! You worthless bastards! What were you doing while the Korean hunters snatched the World Tree?!”
Huang Bao spat his words at Hong Long and the other hunters, his voice dripping with fury.
The sight of hunters with bodies of steel bowing their heads to listen to Huang Bao’s flabby words was profoundly unnatural. Yet it wasn’t because Huang Bao possessed exceptional command ability or character that they obeyed so meekly. They feared the faction behind him—especially his uncle, the man powerful enough to elevate an incompetent like Huang Bao to such a lofty position.
“There’s a potent toxin inside. We cannot approach.”
Hong Long answered with his head bowed. Not all S-rank hunters possessed the same high poison resistance as Ji-seok. Most hunters could only endure toxins by gradually depleting their stamina and vitality, so their limits were clear.
Beneath the World Tree, a thick toxic mist spread across the ground, obscuring visibility. Moreover, they had to wander through an unknown space, burning through their life force without knowing what they sought. It went without saying that emerging even slightly late meant death.
“I don’t need excuses! Hong Long! Go in right now and capture that spirit, then have it spray the potion over here!”
Though Hong Long had already stated that entering was tantamount to suicide, Huang Bao cared nothing for that. His own safety was paramount. Besides, wasn’t Hong Long an S-rank hunter? If the Korean hunters had managed it, Hong Long should have no problem.
Even though potions had become commonplace and were no longer as rare as before, they remained expensive. As potions rained down from the sky like precipitation, the last shred of reason remaining in Commander Huang Bao’s eyes evaporated.
Yet it wasn’t mere greed alone. If the higher-ups in Beijing learned that a tree producing potions had fallen to Korea under his command, dismissal would be the least of his worries. No matter how powerful his uncle was in the party, an incident of this magnitude could result in his uncle facing punishment as well.
Huang Bao’s uncle was a cold man. He had cared for Huang Bao until now, but if Huang Bao caused him harm instead? Just imagining the consequences sent shivers down Huang Bao’s spine.
“We’ve already burned everything on our side. We cannot approach without crossing the border.”
Hong Long sighed as he answered.
“Then go in secretly! Secretly! An S-rank hunter can’t even do that?! Those small-nation bastards manage it just fine!”
“… I will attempt it.”
Hong Long filled his potion belt and approached the World Tree. Though successive bombardments had nearly destroyed the World Tree at the Chinese border, new branches had grown, recreating the toxic mist across Chinese territory. Hong Long intended to hide within this mist and search the World Tree’s trunk.
“Ugh… This is truly disgusting.”
Hong Long grumbled as he entered the mist.
“Hah…”
The piercing toxin stung his skin, so I held my breath and spread my aura thinly across my body.
‘At this rate, I won’t last long.’
No matter how thinly I spread my aura, I couldn’t hold my breath indefinitely, but to appease the Commander’s anger, I had to scout as long as possible and salvage something from this ordeal.
After moving several hundred meters and gulping potions with each breath, I opened my eyes wide and ventured deeper into the forest, searching for the existence called a spirit.
* * *
The World Tree finally purified something and converted it into life force, scattering it into the world—but only toward Korea. This caused the Korean Government and the Chinese Government’s reactions to the World Tree to shift a complete 180 degrees.
[Is that your friend?]
“Huh?”
The World Tree spirit’s voice suddenly reached me, so I glanced around, but no spirit was visible nearby.
[Someone entered my shadow. Is that your friend?]
It seemed the spirit could speak even from a distance.
“No… There shouldn’t be anyone who went in?”
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok, what is the matter?”
Director Baek Young-shin asked, thinking I was muttering to myself.
“The World Tree spoke to me. It says someone entered the World Tree’s domain.”
“It’s not one of our personnel.”
[Can I drive them out?]
“You don’t like it when people enter?”
[You’re fine. But this human who just came in smells like the humans who set me on fire, so I don’t like them.]
“It seems they’re Chinese.”
“We’re not sure what we should do…”
“Do as you see fit.”
Director Baek Young-shin muttered about international relations… it wouldn’t work… but he didn’t stop me. There was simply too much accumulated tension with China.
[Understood.]
* * *
Beneath the World Tree, there was only poison and silence, so reconnaissance wasn’t difficult. Then, without warning, a branch suddenly sharpened into a spear-like point and attacked Hong Long.
“Gasp!”
I spun my body and pushed one branch away with my hand, evading the assault. A relentless barrage of branch attacks followed in succession.
I wrapped myself in aura and rotated like a spinning top, using the principles of Tai Chi to deflect the strikes. Simultaneously, I leveraged the rotation’s momentum to strike the branches with my palm, but they merely bent—they didn’t break.
The World Tree’s branch attacks resembled those of a Walking Tree, but the attack speed and the wood’s hardness were incomparably more formidable. Moreover, their sheer number was overwhelming—hundreds of sharp branches rained down from above while roots surged up like awls from below. Hong Long felt like an insect crawling across a hedgehog’s body.
The sudden assault forced me to move violently, and I inhaled a massive amount of toxic air in the process.
“Cough…”
I’d breathed in so much poison that I sustained internal injuries. My A-rank armor was heavily damaged, and my potion belt had already snapped. Only one potion remained.
Hong Long burst the nearby branches using the Foot Explosion skill, detonating aura from within, then drank the potion. There was no choice but to retreat now.
* * *
[I’m out.]
“Yeah? You didn’t get hurt?”
[No. I took it easy.]
“Well, that’s fortunate.”
What fault could a mere foot soldier have? There’s no benefit in seeing them injured.
* * *
Hong Long’s failure, and news of the World Tree’s power, had already reached Beijing.
“Damn those bastards! They monopolized the information and waited for us to attack, didn’t they?!”
Commander Huang Bao was redirecting his own hastiness toward Korea. If he didn’t do something immediately, his head wouldn’t still be attached when he returned to Beijing.
“After all, North Korean Territory was never ours to begin with, was it?”
While Hong Long rested from his wounds, Tian Fei, who had come to protect Commander Huang Bao, spoke with the cunning of a schemer.
“What? Didn’t you give it back not long ago when you failed?”
Due to the North Korean incident, Tian Fei’s standing had plummeted to the bottom. That he survived at all was only because he was an S-rank Hunter.
“Couldn’t we simply seize it by force?”
The Commander’s words grated on Tian Fei’s nerves, but he suppressed his anger. Tian Fei now stood on the edge of a cliff. One more mistake, and even an S-rank Hunter would be in danger—he desperately wanted to earn merit by securing the World Tree.
“The World Hunter Alliance won’t stay silent, will they?”
“If we attack on the grounds that the World Tree threatens Chinese territory and Korea cannot control it, they won’t impose severe sanctions. And if we promise to give them a share of the Congo later, Russia and Pakistan will side with us in the Alliance.”
Territory disputes were indeed occurring in various places, but the world had been preoccupied with the Gate crisis, so territorial disputes had been somewhat sidelined.
“In the first place, wasn’t Changbai Mountain our mountain? We compromised and allowed North Korea to take the east, but Korea is not North Korea, is it? The border needs to be redrawn.”
“Exactly! It was a boundary with North Korea, so naturally it must be redrawn with Korea! These greedy bastards—they took Pyongyang and now they’re trying to take this too!”
The Commander, attempting to forcibly seize internationally recognized Korean territory, rationalized himself with shameless justification.
“Tian Fei! Gather all the Hunters! Deploy the soldiers immediately across the entire border! We can’t drag this out. We must seize it now!”
* * *
The Chinese military suddenly deployed in a long line along the border.
In response to China’s sudden military movement, Korean Hunters and troops also deployed along the border, but Korea’s forces were only about one-tenth of China’s.
“Commander of South Korea, show yourself!”
“What is the meaning of this outrage?!”
Baek Young-shin stepped forward as Korea’s representative.
“Korea has failed to control the World Tree, and it continues to poison our homeland even now. From this moment forward, we will take control—withdraw your forces immediately! Otherwise, we will not hesitate to launch a full-scale assault!”
“This land has been recognized by the World Allied Government as Korean territory! China should not make a decision it will regret—stand down!”
The two commanders engaged in a war of words through megaphones, their purpose also to boost morale among the soldiers by convincing them of their righteousness.
I let the higher-ups do their talking and stepped forward alongside Hunter Jung Min-gi. Hong Long and Tian Fei stood roughly ten meters ahead of us.
“It’s been a while.”
I greeted Tian Fei in English, and he flinched visibly.
“You came back after taking such a beating last time?”
He averted his gaze.
“Come at me. This time I won’t let you escape. Shall we settle the score you wanted?”
As I growled, Tian Fei broke into a cold sweat.
“Brother… leave that man to me.”
Bae Na-young, remembering that Tian Fei had tried to abduct her, sharpened her resolve. If Tian Fei launched a surprise attack, it would be different, but standing face-to-face, Na-young alone could capture him.
“Just hold back.”
Hong Long stepped in front of Tian Fei.
“China is the one who should hold back. Is the Commander insane?”
“…”
“Then we have to stop him?”
“…”
“Why force yourself to obey orders you don’t want to follow? Do they have your family hostage?”
“…”
“I was joking, but it seems it’s true. I’m sorry.”
Since he was an honest man whose expressions revealed everything, he gave no verbal answer, yet I understood it all. China had eight S-rank Hunters, and Hong Long was one who maintained a relatively positive image even in Korea. Given his position, he couldn’t openly side with Korea or disparage China, but his many charitable contributions had earned him considerable Korean fans.
“I wish that Commander hadn’t made such a mad choice.”
“I agree.”
Hong Long sighed deeply.
I shouted from where I stood.
“There is no one here who can defeat me! If we fight, I will be the last one standing! Come at me if you dare!”
My roar caused the Chinese soldiers to collapse in their positions. Some of those nearby lost control of their bladders and fell unconscious. Though weaker than Dragon’s Fear, it was still enough to suppress ordinary soldiers effectively.
My claim of victory wasn’t entirely false, but it was mixed with bluster. I couldn’t simultaneously hold back all those troops. If fighting broke out, the Korean military would suffer near-total annihilation.
Moreover, while I wanted to deal with that Commander and Tian Fei, I had no desire to slaughter ignorant Chinese soldiers indiscriminately.
“Tch….”
The Commander, understanding this reality, bit his lip.
Hong Long and Hunter Jung Min-gi were evaluated as having similar strength. I had a record of defeating Tian Fei, and my reputation had grown since then. The story of how I captured the Ice Dragon had already spread throughout the Hunter community.
“Do not retreat!”
Officers shouted at the Chinese soldiers who were quietly backing away.
“Do you want war?! If war breaks out, do you think a small nation like Korea could possibly endure?!”
“Let me be clear—if war comes, all of your heads will die by my hand.”
An S-rank Hunter exists as a weapon more terrifying than nuclear arms by mere presence alone.
No—my existence is more frightening to world leaders than any nuclear arsenal. If I were to charge forward with intent, there are scarcely a handful of individuals on this entire planet capable of stopping me.
The Commander’s sweat poured down like rain. He had assumed I would retreat if pressured by superior numbers, but my demeanor proved far more resolute than he had anticipated.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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